Dutch Knuckle, Poundcake, and Little Dickens

“We have a 5-year-old daughter, and sitting down with her and eating pickles, cheese, and crackers somewhere nice outside is the best way to eat our cheese,” says Alex Eaton ’08.

Eaton and his college sweetheart—now his wife and business partner, Margot Brooks ’08—graduated from St. Lawrence University. Brooks, a sixth-generation farmer, introduced Eaton to dairy farming, and four years later, with little to no objections from him, they bought their first 23-acre farm together in Upper Jay, New York, naming it Sugar House Creamery.

“We have a 5-year-old daughter, and sitting down with her and eating pickles, cheese, and crackers somewhere nice outside is the best way to eat our cheese,” says Alex Eaton ’08.

Brooks and Eaton are not your typical entrepreneurs. Their business model relies on some very unique approaches and products.

Dutch Knuckle, Poundcake, and Little Dickens are three of the cheeses produced on the farm. Their cheesemaking venture started in 2014 with the assistance of an experienced cheesemaker named Casey Galligan. Galligan teamed up with Brooks and Eaton after meeting them through another small farming family.

“Casey’s involvement furthered our existing cheese recipes,” says Brooks. “She had a deeper knowledge and more diverse experience with cheesemaking and was able to help make our cheeses what they are today.”

Each cheese is carefully aged using pasteurized or raw cow milk to make a range of tastes and textures. Brooks and Eaton sell the cheeses at local farmers markets and the couple’s farm store in Upper Jay, which is open Wednesdays and weekends. The cheese, however, is only one part of the farm.

According to Eaton, 12 Brown Swiss cows and one rogue Jersey-cross named Turkey give the farm even more personality. During the farm’s first year, Eaton says the cows got out and went down to the post office. A random passerby drove them back using his truck.

“It doesn’t matter how good of a farmer you are; your cows will always find a way to escape,” he explains. “We heard our neighbors yelling, ‘Your cows are getting in the pool,’” confirms Brooks, describing the mischief their cows can make. She adds, “All of our cows have funny names since we let our daughter name them. We have Carrot Stick and Bubble Gum right now.”

To expand their business and round out the complete farm experience, Brooks and Eaton have opened up their farm to visitors with guest quarters and a carriage barn—accommodations inspired by the couple’s travels to and stay at a small farm in France.

“You can come and stay a night or two, but if guests are super interested in small farm life, we invite them to get a tour,” says Brooks. And a couple of cows, with little to no objection, will let guests milk them so that visitors can experience dairy farming firsthand.